Kampala — Yaobai Cement Karamoja has won the Community Impact and Local Content Award at the 15th Annual Mineral Wealth Conference & Expo 2026, held at Speke Resort Munyonyo. The award recognises the company's investment in the people of Karamoja through jobs, education and social services.
This year's conference was themed "Beneath the Surface: Unlocking Africa's Next Mining Powerhouse." Organisers said the discussions moved beyond extraction to value addition, investment, partnerships, financing, technology and the infrastructure needed to build a stronger mining sector across the continent.
The European Union's Ambassador to Uganda, H.E. Jan Sadek, said the theme challenged participants to look past Uganda's minerals to the skills, factories, finance and markets needed to turn geological wealth into lasting prosperity.
"The opportunity is for the story 'beneath Uganda's surface' not to end at the gate of the mine," Ambassador Sadek said. "It can extend into laboratories and workshops, into processing plants and factories, into new exports, deepened trade relations and into skilled jobs."
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He said Uganda's goal should not simply be to extract, but to "build a productive, industrial economy from what lies beneath the surface."
That vision matches the model Yaobai Cement has pursued in Karamoja. The plant turns locally mined raw materials into cement, one of the basic inputs for the country's construction and infrastructure growth. It also hires and builds skills within the region.
In a message to mark the award, Mr. Ma Chao, Chief Executive Officer of Yaobai Cement Uganda, said the recognition belonged as much to the country of Uganda as to the company.
"When we chose to build in Karamoja, we knew we were not only building a cement plant, but a long-term partnership with the people of Uganda,"
Mr. Ma said. "This award tells us we are on the right path. Our commitment is to keep processing Uganda's minerals resources here at home, to employ and train local people, and to invest in the development and wellbeing of this nation. As Uganda builds its roads, homes and industries, we are proud that Karamoja is helping to supply the foundation."
He thanked the conference organisers, government partners and the company's staff, many of whom are drawn from the host communities, for making the achievement possible.
Ms. Callen Nsiime, the company's Chief Human Resource Officer, received the award on behalf of Yaobai Cement Karamoja.
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"We are happy to accept this award, which in so many ways is a testament to our relationship with the people of Karamoja," Ms. Nsime said. "We work with so many of them and we are glad that our partnership is developing the region and its people."
Ambrose Byona, a local partner of Yaobai Cement Karamoja, said the company's investment goes well beyond the millions spent on the plant itself. It extends to building a stronger and more resilient Karamoja through a deliberate social and humanitarian programme.
"We believe in developing Karamoja through education, social services to communities and the creation of more jobs," Byona said. "We are happy that this award recognises our commitment to these values."
The recognition comes early in the life of Uganda's newest cement producer. It signals that the company's approach of pairing industrial investment with community development is already being noticed across the sector.
